South Africa swells with pride at London 2012 success | World news | The Guardian South Africa South Africa swells with pride at London 2012 success Growing Olympics excitement across South Africa as country already wins three gold medals after paltry silver in Beijing South Africa celebrates winning gold in the lightweight men's four final. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/EPA Thursday 2 August 2012 16.25 EDT First published on Thursday 2 August 2012 16.25 EDT Close This article is 4 years old Life came to a standstill at the University of Pretoria's high performance centre on Thursday. Staff and students were transfixed by TV pictures from London showing four of its finest rowing the race of their lives. "People were saying, 'They can get bronze,' then 'they can get silver,' then 'they can get gold!" said Emile Smith, an executive at the centre. "It echoed through the building." Gold it was, leaving South Africa in a pleasant state of disbelief. In the Beijing Olympics the team won a paltry silver medal ; in London it has three golds already.

The lightweight men's four followed swimmers Cameron van der Burgh winning the 100m breaststroke in world record time and Chad le Clos edging out Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly. Perhaps South Africa's biggest cheerleader is the sports minister, Fikile Mbalula. An official statement released on his behalf was almost incoherent with excitement: "We don't want to sound like a broken record, what welcomed us in Britain, has phenomenon, victory was certain. We are proud of the four young men, who made our flag to rise above all and our national anthem to be sang louder." The rowers' success was the top story on national TV news. Matthew Brittain, Sizwe Ndlovu, John Smith and James Thompson came from behind to snatch the title from favourites Britain and Denmark. Ndlovu, 31, South Africa's sole black winner in London so far, is a former police reservist who worked for the Pretoria flying squad, according to sports journalist Neal Collins's blog. Born in Johannesburg, Ndlovu was inspired to take up rowing in 1997 by his headteacher.

"He was actually the one who saw the potential in me and encouraged me to row," he told the Sport 24 website. "He used to pick me up in the mornings at 5am, make me train before classes, then go to school and also train in the afternoons. That was Tom Price, what a great man. He passed away in 2006." The team has six-hour training sessions three times a day. The team members are struggling to balance their sporting careers, which yield little financial reward, with studying or work. South Africa is no sporting minnow and recently toasted Ernie Els' victory in the Open and its cricketers' first Test thrashing of England. But the country has never before won Olympic gold in rowing or male individual swimming. Smith of the high performance centre, which also coached van der Burgh, said government intervention had led to more specialisation and concentration on training. "There's been a progressive element in South African sport. The 2010 football World Cup provided an impetus," he said. South Africa's team is also smaller than it was in Beijing and may be more focused.

Sports journalist Carlos Amato added that this time: "The resources have been concentrated on medal contenders." The victories would boost national morale, he added. "It matters hugely. It's funny how we take it more seriously than we should. To have a multi-racial rowing team winning gold really matters. It's sentimental but it's true." This being South Africa , race matters too. Amato said: "There's been large black interest and celebration of the success of the white athletes. But the team is still way too white. You saw that in the opening ceremony which wasn't very different from the first team that was readmitted to the Olympics in 1992. A lot of Olympic disciplines are still for the elite who have access to facilities and resources." Runners Oscar Pistorius and Caster Semenya are still to come and, perhaps one day, a bid to host the Olympics. Following Rio in 2016, Africa will be the only continent still waiting its turn.

swimming – praag.org Race an issue while white South African swimmers win gold Chad le Clos with his gold medal, not good for South Africa's image as a "black" country While white South African swimmers, Cameron van den Burgh and Chad Le Clos, have won gold medals at the Olympic games in London, … Read the rest Share this: That America will ever have another black president. That South Africa will ever have another white president. Sunday Times Sport By David Isaacson, 2016-07-31 00:00:00.0 Olympics: At last team SA gets its chance to... Team SA for the Rio Olympics is filled with stars seeking their destiny like swimmer Cameron van der Burgh. Image: Supplied Our reigning Olympic champions have the firepower to break a century-long curse and win more gold in Rio, writes David Isaacson An Olympic jinx has hung over South Africa for more than a century. This curse has afflicted every one of the country's 22 Olympic champions, who won a combined 20 gold medals from London 1908 to Athens 2004.

Not a single one retained their title or won another Olympic gold at a subsequent Games. But Team South Africa's talented class of 2016 has the best chance yet of breaking the 104-year hoodoo at the Rio Games, which start on Friday night. Swimmers Cameron van der Burgh and Chad Le Clos and rowers John Smith and James Thompson - all gold medallists at London 2012 - will have six attempts to bury this ghost. Van der Burgh and Le Clos are the only two able to retain titles, in the 100m breaststroke and 200m butterfly respectively. The rowers have migrated from the lightweight four to the lightweight double sculls, but they are still in the gold medal hunt. Van der Burgh is slated to get the first crack - in the 100m breaststroke final next Sunday night (the evening session begins at 3am on Monday, South African time). Le Clos is expected to make his first medal charge in the 200m freestyle final on Monday night next week, and will attempt to defend his 200m 'fly title the following evening.

On Friday, Smith and Thompson are scheduled to race for gold in the lightweight men's double sculls in the morning, and that night Le Clos will try to upgrade his 100m butterfly silver from four years ago to gold. On Saturday night, Van der Burgh and Le Clos will hope to have another podium attempt in the 4x100m medley relay, although gold might be a long shot. Penny Heyns, South Africa's star of Atlanta 1996, the only woman to win the Olympic 100m and 200m breaststroke double, pointed out that South Africa was still catching up with the rest of the world when it came to Games milestones. Retaining Olympic gold medals is commonplace for many countries. "We've seen success from other countries being able to repeat, but then they have that experience, having been in the Olympics so many years and groomed athletes more successfully than we have," said Heyns, who added the 100m breaststroke bronze at Sydney 2000. It's not like you don't want to work as hard, it's just little things like making sure you get enough rest. That's a big thing.

There are dozens of multiple gold medallists, such as British rower Steve Redgrave across five Games, athletics superstar Carl Lewis across four, and swimmer Michael Phelps, who will be in Rio looking to stretch his run to four. Fencer Aladár Gerevich of Hungary holds the record for the longest run - six Olympic golds from six Games, from 1932 to 1960. More than one generation of South Africans missed out on the Olympics as a result of the isolation - lasting 32 years and seven Games - that was enforced because of apartheid. "I think we are catching up," said Heyns, confident the curse will end sooner rather than later. "Hopefully we'll see some change in that area." Ryk Neethling, a member of the 4x100m freestyle relay team that stunned the world at Athens 2004, remembers how winning gold made training tougher. "Having struggled so much for [financial] support, you also want to capitalise on the opportunities a gold medal gives you," he said. Team SA Olympic rowers John Smith and James Thompson. Image: Supplied It was a delicate balance between paid commitments and training.

"It's not like you don't want to work as hard, it's just little things like making sure you get enough rest. That's a big thing. "You still go to all the training, but instead of going home and sleeping, now you have to go straight from the pool to an event. "One event won't kill you, but if you do it eight or 10 times a month, that's a fraction of a percentage point that makes a difference at the end of a day." Neethling, Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns and Darian Townsend went 0.51 of a second faster at Beijing 2008 than their 3min 13.17sec world record four years earlier, yet slipped from first place to seventh. The margins are tight. "I think Chad and I both have our work cut out for us this year," said Van der Burgh. "It's going to be like how Chad beat Phelps last time," he said. Le Clos, then unknown on the world stage, clinched victory by five-hundredths of a second. "Either he and I will both just get it, or we'll just be on the other side of it," Van der Burgh said.

Now that they have walked the yellow brick road, they know when they've strayed, and that brings added stress Le Clos agreed. "It's very hard. From Beijing 2008 to the last Olympics there were no swimmers who retained their titles apart from Phelps. "There's a real chance I could come away with two silvers, three silvers. "I'll be very upset if I don't win at least one race." Le Clos is also eyeing a different golden first for South Africa in Rio - no reigning South African world champion in any sport has won an Olympic title in the same event. There have been only two to try - high jumpers Hestrie Cloete and Jacques Freitag at Athens 2004, but Cloete had to settle for silver while injury-hit Freitag failed to get past the qualifying round. Le Clos, the two-time 100m butterfly world champion, is the country's first swimmer to try to add a Games crown. World 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk will look to do the same on the track.

With Team SA boasting other powerhouses such as Caster Semenya, long jumper Ruswahl Samaai, three other strong rowing crews, canoeist Bridgitte Hartley and others, there's a good chance this could be the greatest South African outfit since readmission, if not of all time. There are 18 prospects in total, which is likely to translate into eight to 11 medals. Six is South Africa's best since readmission; 10 is the standard from 1920 and 1952. Gold is the ultimate, but a repeat gold is so much harder. In the build-up to 2012, Le Clos, Van der Burgh and the rowers didn't know if they were on the right path, and that ignorance meant they couldn't stress out about it. Now that they have walked the yellow brick road, they know when they've strayed, and that brings added stress. "By knowing where the standard is, you often know when you're not at it - and that can be quite hard," said rower Thompson, who won the 2014 world championship with Smith.

"But when you're young and naive, you can bull***t yourself a bit more." Sceptics might argue that only four of South Africa's six golden repeat shots are realistic - Van der Burgh in the 100m breaststroke, Le Clos in the two butterfly races, and the scullers - but even then, that's still more chances than South Africa has had before. The country's greatest golden performance came at Stockholm 1912, with a total of four gold, but World War 1 robbed hopefuls of a possible repeat with no Games in 1916. The fact is that most of South Africa's 16 gold medallists in the pre-isolation years didn't return, including the six boxing champions, who made themselves ineligible by turning professional. Tennis player Charles Winslow, the country's first multiple medallist with two golds in the singles and doubles in 1912, was back in action at Antwerp 1920, taking bronze in the singles behind victorious countryman Louis Raymond.

Raymond, athlete Bevil Rudd and boxer Clarence Walker bagged three golds that year, and it would take another 76 years for South Africa to capture three gold medals again - Heyns's double and Josia Thugwane in the marathon. Heyns spoke about the choices she made ahead of Sydney 2000 that might have cost her victory. Wayde van Niekerk, South African track and field sprinter. Image: Supplied "I think it just comes down to making wrong decisions and coupled with keeping the wrong people happy," she said, recalling how she took time off training to spend time with the family of a teammate who was dying in hospital after a car accident. "And then I missed going to the world short course because I chose to instead go to the memorial because they asked me to speak there. Before all of that happened, I was doing faster times in training than I had done the previous year [during which she broke 11 world records]. I didn't realise it would affect my performances down the line." It also occurred to Heyns only this year that she had not used a custom-made suit in Sydney.

"For some reason - I never know why, I think because my legs were tired at the Olympics - I chose not to race in that suit. I chose to race in a regular suit, and the others raced in that suit. The race was so close I'll never know ... it could have been worse or it could have been better." She went out hard, hitting the turn inside world-record pace. "But then I'd say the last 5m didn't quite play the game. It came down to the touch." Thugwane said he was targeted in Sydney. "In Atlanta nobody knew me. But the next Olympics everybody followed me and that upset me. I tried going out fast. After 22km the body didn't respond." He came 20th. Only two marathon men have retained titles over the 27 Summer Olympics: Ethiopian Abebe Bikila at Tokyo 1964 and Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany at Moscow 1980. History may not favour South Africa, but that's probably unimportant. What matters is that the 2016 team is filled with stars seeking their destiny. "I don't worry too much about anyone else, or statistics," said Le Clos.

"I've broken records my whole life." What Team SA’s gold medals mean - Moneyweb Registered users can save articles to their personal articles list. Login here or sign up here South Africa What Team SA’s gold medals mean Economists say it’s good for business confidence. Kim Cloete / 2 August 2012&nbsp17:34 CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s three gold medals at the Olympics are expected to do more than just make our swimmers and rowers extremely happy. Their win is one for all of us, says everyone from economists and sports experts to the Presidency. “This will certainly promote unity in the country. It’ll generate just a little more confidence and it could be very positive for South Africa, particularly if we manage to scoop even more than the three golds,” says director and chief economist of Econometrix, Azar Jammine. He believes it could also spark investor confidence.

“It puts us on the map a bit more and indicates to foreign investors that South Africa is still a country of fairly good standing.” The wins by Cameron van der Burgh, Chad le Clos and the men’s lightweight rowing team, have been a major fillip for South Africa, currently burdened by a slew of bad news on political fallouts, the textbook crisis and service delivery protests. The Presidency was delighted with the win. “This has whipped up excitement amongst our people,” spokesman for the Presidency, Mac Maharaj told Moneyweb. “It’s good for South Africa and hopefully it will pull us together.” He said while the problems facing South Africa are very real, the Olympics wins have brought great positive energy to the country. “People shouldn’t only focus on our problems and challenges, but our successes as well.” South Africans were elated when Cameron van der Burgh won gold in the 100 metres backstroke final on Sunday, shattering the record set by Australian Brent Rickard. The win by 20-year-old Chad le Clos, send the country into celebration again on Tuesday, followed by Sizwe Ndlovu, Matthew Brittain, John Smith and James Thompson rowing into victory on Thursday.

“When we went into the Olympics, we had three people with medal expectations, with 5 or 6 with medal hopes and 5 or 6 with medal dreams. Cameron had medal expectations, while the rowers and Chad were hopefuls. To win like we have so far is amazing,” says Ross Tucker, exercise physiologist for the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town. He’s setting his sights on more medals coming from mountain biker, Barry Stander, Sunette Viljoen competing in the javelin, swimming sensations, le Clos and van der Burgh, and athlete, Caster Semenya. Beyond sport, the wins are a boost for the country. Watching people excel and stir up national pride can be very inspirational and motivating in all aspects of life –not only in sport. “On Monday morning, we had a few million people wake up in a good mood. The mood was even better after Chad’s win…and tomorrow, the headlines will not be about politicians fighting with other politicians…but another win. That’s certainly worth the investment, because of the positive emotion and attitude that the medals engender in the country,” believes Tucker.

But he cautions that South Africa shouldn’t rest on its laurels once its sportsmen and women return from the games. It needs to keep up the momentum, with the government and companies investing more in sport. There’s been plenty of criticism that not enough money is being ploughed into building up the skill of our sportsmen and women. “The UK spent £7m on badminton alone in the Olympics. Our total Olympics spend was R78m. People who say we spend too much on sport need a dose of reality. It’s just small change,” Tucker believes. He says South Africans should not forget how miserable people were when our Olympic team came back from Beijing in 2008 after winning only one medal. Jammine says the latest medal count for South Africa is also important in showing that we can perform better than most African countries. “It’s very important at the moment, because there’s a feeling that South Africa is falling back more and more in Africa, in education and other aspects. The gold medal wins will illustrate that there are pockets of excellence in the country.” A win in the Olympics also has an added dimension, as it celebrates diversity and is unifying for all South Africans.

“Rugby and football are still tainted along racial lines, while the Olympics cuts across the entire country. Everyone supports its success, to an even greater extent than rugby, soccer and cricket. It’s more international and more unifying,” believes Jammine. He says it’ll also help to counter what he sees as ‘extreme pessimism’ about the South African economy in recent weeks, a pessimism he considers as unjustified. “I don’t think the economy is doing as badly as people think it is. The news out of Europe is very alarmist and we’re inundated with people saying there’s a close correlation between events in Europe and our economic developments here…I think people have jumped the gun and forgotten how resilient we are. He says the fact that the public service wage agreement was made peacefully and with no strike action, is an achievement, and this, combined with the ‘feelgood’ factor from the Olympics, should be seen as positive for the country. Now we just need to up the tally of Olympic medals.

So far, the three golds in London are on par with the three gold medals South Africa achieved in Atlanta in 1996, with Penny Heynes winning two in the swimming, and Josia Thugwane glittering with a gold medal in the marathon. But we still need to scoop one more to equal our gold medal achievements in 1912, when South Africa won the gold in the marathon, the cycling race and the men’s tennis singles and doubles. Le Clos: SA's sports star of the year | News | Sport | M&G Le Clos: SA's sports star of the year Ockert De Villers 05 Nov 2012 07:44 Olympic gold medallist Chad le Clos was named sports star of the year at the South African Sports Awards on Sunday night.

(Reuters) The 20-year-old clinched the top accolade ahead of last year's winner, cricketer Hashim Amla, swimmers Natalie du Toit and Cameron van der Burgh, athletes Caster Semenya and Oscar Pistorius, Bafana Bafana striker Siyabonga Nomvete and Protea wicket-taker Vernon Philander in Johannesburg on Sunday night. Le Clos became an overnight sensation when he beat Michael Phelps by a whisker for the gold medal in the 200m butterfly at the 2012 London Olympics. He went on to win silver in the 100m butterfly behind Phelps. Philander claimed the sportsman of the year trophy following a prolific debut Test season where he became the second-fastest man to take 50 wickets in the history of cricket. Rowing South Africa were also big winners on the evening, scooping three awards with their president Wimpie du Plessis named administrator of the year and the sporting code taking the federation of the year award.

The Olympic gold-medal winning South African men's coxless lightweight fours rowing team of Sizwe Ndlovu, Matthew Britain, John Smith and James Thompson walked away with the team of the year award. Semenya, who was the country's only medallist in the track and field at the London Olympic Games, clinching the 800m silver medal, received the sportswoman of the year award. In the coach of the year category, Banyana Banyana's Joseph Mkhonza walked away with the spoils. Mkhonza led the South African women's soccer team to its first Olympic Games where they failed to advance past the group stages at the London showpiece. Legendary Paralympian Du Toit was honoured during the evening by being named sportswoman of the year with disability. She bowed out from competitive swimming after this year's Paralympic Games having won a total of 13 gold and two silver medals in Paralympic competitions. The sportsman of the year with disability went to Pistorius, who this year made history by competing at both the Olympics and Paralympics.

– Sapa Winners: Sports star of the year: Chad le Clos (swimming). Sportsman of the year: Vernon Philander (cricket). Sportswoman of the year: Caster Semenya (athletics). Coach of the year: Joseph Mkhonza (football). Sportswoman of the year with Disability: Natalie du Toit (swimming). Sportsman of the year with Disability: Oscar Pistorius (athletics). Federation of the year: Rowing.Team of the year: Rowing. Administrator of the year: Wimpie du Plessis (rowing). Newcomer of the year: Siya Kolisi (rugby). Volunteer of the year: Sondiso Magajana (judo). School team of the year: Ithembelihle High (rugby).

Journalist of the year: Velile Mbuli Photographer of the year: Sydney Seshibedi Recreation body of the year: Vakhegula (Vakhegula football) Steve Tshwete Lifetime Award 2012: Elijah Tap Tap Makhithini (boxing), Papwa Sewgolum Sewsunker (golf), Sam Ramsamy, Petros Molemela (football), Sally Little (golf), Joost van der Westhuizen (rugby). Green Jacket recipients for 2012: Matthews Motshwareteu (athletics), Blanche Moila (athletics), Grant Khomo Was bestowed with order of Ikhamanga (cricket, rugby, football and tennis), Nelson Teenage Dladla (football). South Africa's 'best' Olympics? Tweet on Twitter 3 August 2012 With three gold medals just six days into London 2012, some people are wondering whether this could turn out to be South Africa’s best Olympics ever. Which raises the question of how one judges a country’s success at the Games. The answer is not straightforward. Or is it?

Cameron van der Burgh, in the 100m breaststroke, and Chad le Clos, in the 200m butterfly, are the first South African men to win individual gold medals in Olympic swimming. The men’s fours lightweight crew of Matthew Brittain, Lawrence Ndlovu, John Smith and James Thompson also delivered a first on Thursday by becoming the first South Africans to win a rowing medal at the Olympics. So Team South Africa 2012 has certainly hit the ground running in London, with more than a week of competition still to come. Without trying to jinx their chances – touch wood, everyone! – could they be on their way to becoming the nation’s most successful Olympic team yet? South Africa first competed at the Games in 1904, and since that time have never had more than three individuals winning gold medals at a single Olympics. In Stockholm in 1912, the country claimed four golds, but tennis player Charles Winslow won twice, in the men’s singles and doubles. So, in this respect, Team SA’s results in 2012 are already record-equalling.

Pre-isolation, post-isolation South Africa, because of apartheid, was banned from the Games in 1964, and only readmitted nearly three decades later, in 1992, following Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1991. Since readmission in 1992, Team SA has only once previously won three gold medals at a single Games. That happened in Atlanta in 1996, when Penny Heyns became the only woman in Olympic history to do the double of 100m and 200m gold in the breaststroke, and Josiah Thugwane won the men’s marathon. If you take South Africa post-isolation, therefore, Team SA 2012 is already on a level with the country’s previous best performance in 1996 – if one takes number of gold medals as one’s yardstick. And number of golds is the generally accepted measure of Olympic success – it is this, not total number of medals (counting silver and bronze), that determines a country’s ranking on the overall medals table.

Stockholm 1912 But whether one looks solely at number of gold medals, or at position on the medals table, South Africa’s greatest Olympic success, pre- or post-isolation, occurred a century ago, in Stockholm in 1912. Apart from Charles Winslow’s two gold medals in tennis – which included a victory over his doubles partner Harold Kitson in the men’s singles – Rudolph Lewis won the road cycling gold medal, and Ken McArthur raced to victory in the marathon. Christian Gitsham added a silver medal by finishing second behind McArthur in the marathon, while tennis player Kitson, of course, claimed a silver in the men’s singles. With four gold and two silver medals in Stockholm, South Africa finished in seventh place on the medals table. Back then, 28 nations took part in the Olympics, with 2 406 athletes competing, of which only 47 were women. Most medals at a single Olympics Taking as one’s measure total number of medals won – whether gold, silver or bronze – South Africa has twice won 10 (two less than the target set by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee for 2012).

At the Antwerp Olympics in 1920, South Africa captured three gold, four silver and three bronze medals, while in Helsinki in 1952, the country won two gold, four silver and four bronze medals. Bevil Rudd was the star of South Africa’s team in Antwerp, winning a gold medal in the 400m, a silver in the 4x400m relay, and a bronze in the 800m. It took until Athens in 2004 for another South African to match his feat of winning a medal of every colour in a single Olympic Games. Roland Schoeman did it with a gold medal in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay, a silver in the 100m freestyle, and a bronze in the 50m freestyle. Looking at South Africa post-isolation, Schoeman thus single-handedly contributed half of Team SA’s best total medal haul.

SA scooped five medals in Atlanta in 1996, five in Sydney in 2000, six in Athens in 2004, and one (Khotso Mokoena’s long jump silver) in Beijing in 2008. Most successful Olympians South Africa’s most successful Olympians – so far – are tennis player Charles Winslow and swimmer Penny Heyns. Winslow added a bronze medal to his two gold medals of 1912 at the 1920 Antwerp Games in the men’s singles, while Heyns followed up her double of 1996 with a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In Helsinki in 1952, South Africa’s medal haul was boosted by the first ever individual gold medals won by South African women. Joan Harrison took victory in the 100m backstroke, while Esther Brand won the high jump. However, the Helsinki team was one gold medal shy of matching the country’s achievements in Antwerp in 1920.

South Africa placed 11th on the medals table in Antwerp, where 2 626 athletes took part in the Games, while they finished 12th in Helsinki. A total of 4 955 athletes competed in Helsinki, of which only 519 were women. Most successful sport – gold medals Before South Africa was banned from the Olympic Games just before the 1964 Olympic Games, the country’s most successful sport was boxing. The country’s pugilists had won 19 medals in 11 Games, producing six champions, four silver medal winners and nine bronze medallists. Since readmission, however, South African boxers have not won a single medal, and have only won two individual bouts so far – one of which took place on Sunday, the same day Cameron van der Burgh became Olympic 100 metres breaststroke champion. In Sydney in 2000, Danie Venter beat Syria’s Ihab al-Youssef 12-9 in the light-heavyweight category before losing to India’s Gurcharan Singh in the his next bout.

And in London on Sunday, welterweight Siphiwe Lusizi defeated Iran’s Ahmed Ahmed 17-13. His next fight, against Venezuela’s Gabriel Maestre Perez, takes place later on Friday. Now, with the two gold medals won in London, South African swimming has drawn level with boxing and athletics for the greatest number of gold medals won, with six. Five of the country’s swimming medals have come since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Penny Heyns won twice that year, the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay won in Athens in 2004, and Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos have now added to the tally in London. The only other previous victory had been Joan Harrison’s backstroke win in Helsinki in 1952. Most successful sport – total medals Taking total number of medals as the yardstick, athletics tops the list as South Africa’s most successful Olympic sport, with six gold, 11 silver and six bronze medals. Only once has South Africa failed to win a medal at the Olympic Games.

That happened the very first time the country took part, in Saint Louis in 1904, when only 651 athletes participated. Not more than 60 of them came from outside of North America. The country has twice won only a single medal, in 1936 in Berlin, where featherweight boxer Charles Catterall won a silver medal, and in 2008 in Beijing, where Khotso Mokoena claimed silver in the long jump. SOUTH AFRICA AT THE OLYMPICS GAMES (gold, silver, bronze, total) 1904 St.

Louis 0 0 0 0 1908 London 1 1 0 2 1912 Stockholm 4 2 0 6 1920 Antwerp 3 4 3 10 1924 Paris 1 1 1 3 1928 Amsterdam 1 0 2 3 1932 Los Angeles 2 0 3 5 1936 Berlin 0 1 0 1 1948 London 2 1 1 4 1952 Helsinki 2 4 4 10 1956 Melbourne 0 0 4 4 1960 Rome 0 1 2 3 1992 Barcelona 0 2 0 2 1996 Atlanta 3 1 1 5 2000 Sydney 0 2 3 5 2004 Athens 1 3 2 6 2008 Beijing 0 1 0 1 2012 London 3 0 0 3 Total 23 

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See: Using SAinfo material TAGS London 2012 - SuperSport - Olympics London 2012 *All times CAT (GMT+2) days London 2012 2012 LONDON London held a party like no other as they hosted what was called "the greatest Olympics ever". The games were well-organised, saw some great performances from the athletes and had a party atmosphere which just about everyone raved about. Bidding contenders London, Madrid, Moscow, New York City, Paris, Leipzig, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Havana Top Athletes Mo Farah and Usain Bolt headlined the Games and delivered in their respective events. Farah claimed the 5000-10 000m double while Bolt claimed the triple - 100m, 200m, 4x100m - to defend the titles he won he Beijing four years earlier. Breakout star Chad le Clos beat the most decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps, to claim gold in the men's 200m butterfly. He also won silver in the men's 100m butterfly behind Phelps.

Kenya's David Rudisha smashed the world record in the men's 800m and dragged the rest of the field to personal bests and national records. It was a wonderful moment in front of a full stadium. Felix Sanchez defied his age and logic when he won gold in the men's 400m hurdles - eight years after he won gold in Sydney in the same event. He cried like a baby on the medal podium and the crowd wept with him. Greg Rutherford trilled the home crowd after winning gold in the men's long jump - after starting as a dark horse for a medal. Memorable Moments: The magnificent opening ceremony highlighted London's diverse residents, status as home to captain's of industry, touched on their history, showed off their music and film, and included a cameo by the Queen herself. The ceremony was directed and created by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle and rivalled, if not eclipsed, the Sydney opening ceremony of 2000. Other Michael Phelps takes on Ryan Lochte.

The emerging star beat Phelps in the 400m individual medley but Phelps struck back to claim gold in the 200m individual medley Robert Harting wins gold in the men's discus and celebrates by ripping off his shirt - Hulk-style. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jenning win their third-consecutive gold meal in volleyball, beating out fellow Americans April Ross and Jennifer Kessy Briton Nicola Adams wins the first-ever femaleboxing medal in Olympic history. Caster Semenya returns from slump following the scandal surrounding her gender to win silver in the women's 800m. Andy Murray wins gold at Wimbledon to add to the host's medal tally. Serena Williams takes the women's gold medal.. Mexico stun in the men's football final to beat Brazil to gold. Korea take the wilver medal. USA wins the women's gold medal after beating Japan and Canada take bronze. Cameron van der Burgh takes gold in the men's 100m breastroke, beating rivals Christian Sprenger and Brendan Hansen. South Africans James Thompson, John Smith, Sizwe Ndlovu and Matthew Brittain take gold in the men's coxless fours.

South African Bridgitte Hartley tkes bronze in the women's K1500m Double-amputee Oscar Pistorius makes history as he is allowed to compete in London. He reaches the semifinals of the men's 400m and runs the heats of the 4x400m relay Medal Standing (Top 10) SA Plastics, Composites & Rubber by SA Plastics, Composites & Rubber (page 46) - issuu issuu Issuu on Google+ FEATURE Plastics power Olympic performance from start to ﬁnish WITH 26 different Olympic sports at the London 2012 Olympic Games, an estimated 10 million Olympic enthusiasts marvelled at what took place on the ﬁeld of play. As athletes prepped for play and fans settled into their seats, international and domestic polymer companies could take pride in knowing they contributed to the durability, comfort and key playing surfaces of some of the London 2012 most highly trafﬁcked venues.

SA at the 2012 Summer Olympics The South African Olympic Committee sent 134 athletes to the Games in London, 70 men and 64 women, to compete in 17 sports. Field hockey and women’s football were the only team events in which the nation had its representation in these Olympic Games. After the nation’s dismal performance in the Beijing Olympics, South Africa regained the team’s success in London by winning three gold medals, two of them were from swimming, and the other from rowing. Swimmers Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos won the gold medals in the men’s 100 m breaststroke, and the surprising men’s 200 m butterﬂy. Furthermore, le Clos was able to beat the reigning Olympic champion Michael Phelps in the butterﬂy event. Four days later, he earned the silver medal in the men’s 100 m butterﬂy, an event in which Phelps won the gold medal. Van der Burgh, on the other hand, did not only 44 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2012 Wrapped up! Dow also provided the Wrap for the Olympic stadium at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Wrap is made up of 306 individual panels – each approximately 25 metres high and 2.5 metres wide – stretching from the concourse ground to the upper tier of the outer stadium. The Wrap also features directional signage and shield exposed elements of the stadium from sight. The Wrap panels are made up of more than 50 solid colours that bear the ofﬁcial ‘Colours of the Games’. The Wrap textile is a new and innovative solution - a lightweight polyester fabric with a polyoleﬁn elastomer-based coating. This material allows the Wrap to meet the stringent sustainability requirements while ensuring the appropriate ﬁre protection and printability needed for stadium and stage venues. The compound that coats the polyester fabric contains highly efﬁcient ﬂame win the gold medal, but also broke both the Olympic record and the world record in the men’s 100 m breaststroke event. In athletics, two South African stars became in the highlight in the Games, Oscar Pistorius and Caster Semenya. Pistorius, a four-time Paralympic champion, made the Olympic history in the track and ﬁeld by becoming the ﬁrst double-leg amputee to participate in the Games.

Semenya won the silver medal in the women’s 800 metres. SA Plastics, Composites & Rubber Follow publisher Unfollow publisher Be the first to know about new publications.

Question: Swimmers Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos won gold medals and athlete Caster Semenya won a silver medal for which country at the 2012 Olympics?
Answer: SOUTH AFRICA